rusty nail to sow's ear

Fri 24th December 2010

Part 2 of the propex install;

Got the bus off the floor today on axle stands to enable me to fix the inlet/exhaust pipes.
The inlet is directed towards the n/s of the bus and facing slightly down and towards the rear as I want to be able to use the heater when driving.



The exhaust is directed towards the o/s to prevent fumes entering the sliding door and/or awning, and is also facing down and rearwards.



Cables tidied and gas pipe altered. I want to mount the gas bottle in the engine bay to save space and remove the need for a gas vent in the floor. The gas supply pipe is a temporary flexible through the bottom of the spare wheel well at the moment, as I can't decide where to mount the bottle as it takes up the space where the leisure battery would normally sit.
I've used a 20mm IP65 flex gland to run the 12V supply through the bulkhead.



The thermostat position is another temporary fix until I decide what to do with the interior.



Bench seat back in after removing the centre leg (which didn't touch the floor anyway when fitted to the Z hinges). I'll probably fix a panel to the bench seat legs that will swing up and out with the seat when the bed is formed.
Switch on, sit back and enjoy the heat.



After carrying out a CO test and making sure the thermostat worked OK, I made a start on insulating the roof, but then got told it was Christmas Eve, and was I going to spend any time with the family.....

Sun 26th December 2010

Bit of a thaw today...



Continuing on from the previous post, I've been sat in the bus this afternoon thinking about things, and have come to the conclusion that using the redundant heater vent to pipe the fresh air in without cutting another hole in the floor/bulkhead is the way to go. I'll block up one side of the heater tube Y piece under the floor and block the other inlet that the corrugated pipes connect on to. Heat exchangers will be next to go when I get some J tubes.
All I've got to do is find someone open to sell me 60mm flexible duct....

Anyway, after this bit of brain storming I started to fit some 25mm celotex insulation to the roof to keep some of the new-found heat in.
No pics as I can't remember where I left my phone.

Mon 27th December 2010

Found my phone.

Fri 31st December 2010

JK forum Twixtmas camping trip, Slimbridge.

Sat 16th January 2011

At last, rear springplates on. Feel like shite though after spending a long day down the yard.











Can't go lower without tubbing now, but drives really well, but the only trouble I have is with speedbumps and kerbs unlike the one in the background....






Did a couple of other jobs that need doing while it was up in the air, n/s outer cv boot, n/s rear brake pipe (a casualty of removing the hub ) and secured the throttle linkage with split pins to stop it escaping again.

On with the welding next.

Sun 23rd January 2011

Still feel like sh*te, so only had a small play today.

These "rare" sunvisors arrived in the week



So a scrub with a bit of Jif, overnight warm in the airing cupboard and in their new home today.







Now, anybody got a couple of short lengths of Westy J trim going spare so I can fit the ply headlining in the cab?

Sat 29th January 2011

I've forgotten how good it is to hold an angle grinder.
Prepping the rear body cut ready for transplant.
I fucking hate red oxide primer.





Not quite as rust free as I hoped, there's a few holes in the n/s gutter and corner of the roof under all the different layers of paint. So a slightly different plan of attack has been formed.





p.s. mind your fingers if moving the hinges without the cargo door attached, they move very suddenly......

Sat 29th January 2011

On a slightly different tack, I shall be carrying some 6" x 2" timber with me in the bus when I next visit the workshop.

Sun 6th February 2011

Today was spent mostly removing gaffer tape from around the rear hatch and roof/gutters ready for surgery to commence. I must have forgotten how bad it really is.















And then scraping the grey high build primer (I hate grey high build primer) off the roof to reveal the og light grey paint. Well that's what happened for about 4" behind the sunroof until I discovered another coat of red oxide primer.



Have I told you how much I fucking hate red oxide primer.....

Fri 11th February 2011





That is all.

Mon 14th February 2011

I thought I'd cut this out on the weekend.



Goodbye rot, filler, expanding foam and water leaks.

Sat 19th February 2011

Do you know, I'm sure I've done this before...

Fri 25th February 2011

Well, the day did start dry and bright.



As you can see, the back end is mostly filler,





with a bit of mdf,



oh, and another piece of mdf and some more foam,



the pile's getting bigger,



and then it started to rain, the blue sheets from B&Q were about as effective as a net,



oh look, a plaster lathe and more filler and foam....

Sat 26th February 2011

Last of the major bodge (hopefully).





Hello new metal and structural rigidity.







Look, no holes Mum.

Sat 26th February 2011

Had to replace this as well, drove to my mate's yard yesterday along 8 miles of motorway and town traffic on idle after the hinge snapped......

Thurs 3rd March 2011

New mini project...




...really ought to finish the other project first though.

Sun 6th March 2011

A couple of hours work today, can you see the join?







Unfortunately gaffer tape is very sticky....



Hmmmm, still lots of filler there, even after putting the grinder to it....

Tues 8th March 2011

Got the bus beached on some back roads along Conham Vale giving a mate a lift the other day, had to ask a couple of passerbys to lift the front to get the beam off the tarmac.





Anyway, on with the bus. The weather forecast isn't great for the next couple of days, so I better get my finger out and give the back end work another wipe of filler and some paint.
Shame it gets dark really.



All etch primed ready for the weekend.

Fri 11th March 2011

Spring must be on it's way.



Haven't seen a bloody fly for months, but as soon as I put some paint on a panel.....

Sat 12th March 2011

More filling and paint planned today, got this on at last as well.



All I have to do is find a decent track cover.







Started to lay a coat of high build primer on top of the etch primer, and it started to rain.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Sun 13th March 2011

In spite of Mother Nature's attempts to derail my progress, I've started again.
Do you know how long it takes to remove rain-sodden masking tape and newspaper that was left overnight....

2nd go







oh, the small pleasure derived from a coat of paint

Sat 19th March 2011

And the day started so well.
Nice bright fresh morning. What a delight to drive the bus today after scraping the ice off the inside of the windscreen, only a couple of little jobs and then off to the Dubaid cruise tomorrow.

Play all gone, I can actually use full throttle now.





So I then left the workshop fairly early to have a bit of a roundabout drive home, didn't get far though.
Huge bang and all of a sudden I'm about 4" lower and there's a smell of burning rubber.....





....found this in the road on the way home in a borrowed car about 7.30 tonight.





Guess what I'm doing Monday, looks like the beam's coming out.

Sun 20th March 2011

I wasn't far away from the slip road onto the M32 when the bolt snapped, it doesn't bear thinking about what would've happened at 60mph.

Temporary fix last night to get the bus back to the workshop. Bit uncomfortable, so can't recommend this form of lowering.



Spent all morning today drilling out the broken bolt but still can't remove it, I think the only way is to weld the adjuster so that it's fixed. Hopefully it'll last until the Red9 kit appears.

Fri 25th March 2011

Adjusters welded solid on Monday morning, so hopefully there's no rubbing or beam bashing and the ride isn't too bad 'cos that's the height it is now. :?

I haven't been feeling the love for the bus lately, so have decided to rattlecan it completely L345 in the hope that some sort of attraction for the old nail comes back.

Sun 27th March 2011

Saturday Club at CJ Motors.



Right then, another weekend of success and failures.
Trying to sort out the rear suspension this week, tho og rear dampers were at the limit of their travel and the swingarms were resting on the bumpstops. So off came the dampers and bumpstops, sourced some new Mk III Astra dampers that have adequate travel (470mm open and 290mm closed for your information), but the bushes needed drilling out from 10mm to 12mm for the shock bolts.
Happy days you'd think, but no, I fucked the bushes by overheating them while drilling......
Oh well, hopefully some new custom machined nylon bushes on their way soon.
At least there's some suspension travel now, although a slightly disconcerting and bouncy ride.

Back at home the interior went back in with the og cargo area heater vents sealed with exhaust paste, bench seat and the rear trim panels fitted after sealing the air intake panel.












Fed up of different colour panels I'm just going to rattlecan them after a bit of a rubdown, not too worried about the finish as the rear arches, rear corners and n/s rear window aperture all have to be repaired. Just want to get out and use the damn thing this year.









Ran out of paint to do the rear corner....